Clutching device



Jan. 30, 1934. NEPPLE 1,944,994

' CLUTCHING DEVICE Filed Oct. 23, 1931 3 Sheeiis-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Jan.30, 1934. H. NEPPLE CLUTCHING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 23.1931 Q Y E omu, M my "Wm smw/ W t N WY B Jan. 30, 1934. H. NEPPLECLUTCHING DEVICE Filed Oct. 23, 1931 s Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Hen/ yVj0 s/e BY ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 30, 1934 PATENT OFFICE STATESCLUTCHING DEVICE Application October 23, 1931. Serial No. 570,636

ll! Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in clutching devices designed tobe used in conjunction with a parcel post machine, and particularly witha parcel post weighing and stamp 5 printing machine which is designed toweigh parcel post packages and to print parcel post stamps of theprepaid metered type.

The machine with which my invention is especially adapted to be used mayinclude a printlOing mechanism and various other means and mechanisms, akeyboard having a bank of keys for setting up combinations of numbers onthe printing mechanism, and a power means for operating the variousmechanisms.

The clutching mechanism which constitutes my invention is locatedbetween the power means and the mechanisms operated thereby, and is soconstructed and arranged that its operation may be governed by a controlkey on the keyboard and preferably also by an auxiliary control devicewhich may be termed a progressive release lock. Thearrangement of theclutch and other elements of the machine is such that the clutch may beoperated by the control key to connect the power drive to the mechanismsto be moved throughout a predetermined operation or cycle of operations.In the proper functioning of machines of this character it is essentialthat operation of the various mechanisms be prevented until apredetennined number of figures have been set up in the printingmechanism by actuation of the same or different keys a correspondingnumber of times. To this end the throwing of the clutch device to fulloperative position is restrained by the progressive release lock untilsuch predetermined number of key operations have occurred. In theparticular application of my clutching device disclosed, therefore, adouble control is provided, through the mechanism actuated by thecontrol key and through the auxiliary progressive release lockmechanism. My invention, however, is not limited to such specificapplication or association, it being apparent that the inventioncontemplates that the be actuated, controlled or released by anysuitable means or in any desired manner.

An object of my invention is to provide a clutch mechanism which willengage immediate- 1y upon actuation of the control key and which willcontinue engaged for one cycle of operation only, for example onerevolution of the driven shaft, and which will then disengageautomatically upon the completion of that revolution at a predeterminedpoint.

locking means for the clutch control means may An object of my inventionis to provide a clutch mechanism controlled by a control key in thekeyboard of the'machine, and also by a. lock mechanism comprising aprogressive release lock which, upon the performance of a predetere0mined number of key-actuations upon the keyboard will be operated to apoint where it will release the restraining means controlling theoperations of the clutching mechanism.

An object of my invention is to provide a a5 clutching mechanismcomprising the recited actuating elements, and in addition, re-settingelements to return the locking device to its original locking position,and also an element within the clutch which, upon the completion of a wrevolution, will return the releasing members to their originalposition, thus preparing the machine for the next printing operation.

An object of my invention is to provide a clutching mechanism comprisingelements readily operable by depressing a key on a keyboard, and therebyreleasing spring-tensioned elements to engage the clutch, and whereinpower driven elements are utilized to disengage the clutch at apredetermined point and reset the control gp mechanism; the structurebeing of simple yet durable character.

For these and other purposes, my invention consists in the novelconstruction, arrangement and combination of parts, as hereinafterfully, as clearly and concisely described, definitely pointed out in myclaims, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of a portion of a parcel post machine disclosingthe clutching mechanism, its connections and the progressive releaselock.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the clutch mechanism only, as takenapproximately on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, takenapproximately on the line 3-3 of Fig. l, and in addition showing anelevation of the keyboard unit of the machine. a

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion of the clutch mechanism including thecontrol elements shown 10% in normal clutch disengaged position in solidlines, and the released clutch-engaged position in broken lines, and rFig. 5 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the disengaging finger of theclutch and its connections, taken at line 5--5 in Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 3, the keyboard unit 10 of a parcel post machine isdisclosed, including a control key 11 which, through its'connections 12,operates a latch 13 best shown in Figs. 1 and m 4. The clutchingmechanism includes a sleeve shaft 14 provided with a pin 15 projectingfor engagement with the latch 13, as best shown in Fig. 1; this sleeveshaft 14 is adapted to be supported by and to slide lengthwise upon themain driven shaft 16; sleeve shaft 14 carries a pin 17 slidably engagedwithin a slot on a cam arm 18, designed to engage and disengage theclutch through attached bell crank 19, to which it is pivotallyconnected at 20, the bell crank 19 being fulcrumed on pin 21, and havinga projecting portion 22, adapted to engage the driven element 23 of theclutch, and to move it later ally, whereby the clutch pin 24 may bebrought into and out of engagement with the drive element 25 of theclutch which is pinned to drive shaft 26; the driven element 23 issecured to a sleeve shaft 2'7, supported by the recited drive shaft 26.The driven sleeve shaft 2'7 carries a gear 28, engaging a gear 29 on thedriven shaft 16.

The sleeve shaft 14 is moved in one direction upon release of the latch13, by spring 30, and is returned to the position shown in Fig. 4 byengagement with a cam 31 carried by gear 29. Upon a single rotation ofthe gear 29 the sleeve shaft 14 is moved laterally to engage pin 15 withlatch 13, and the lever 18 should be moved to the full line position inFig. 4 through engagement with the pin 17.

For maintaining the clutch in disengaged position, I have provided adetent in the form of a pivotally mounted latch 32 which has aprojecting portion 33 adapted to engage in a notch in the bell crank 19,and normally spring-tensioned in such position to lock or latch the bellcrank against movement. The latch 32 has a beveled face 34, which restsagainst the cam arm 18; when the sleeve shaft 14 is released, itslateral movement, through pin 17 causes cam arm 18, to move in adirection toward the end of latch 32 to the position indicated in Fig. 4in broken lines. By this movement, through its engagement with thebeveled face 34, arm 18 causes face 34 of the latch 32 to ride up on thearm, tilting the free end of the latch upwardly and thus releasing thelatch portion 33 from engagement with the notch in the bell crank 19,whereupon the bell crank 19 is freed for operation, and under tension ofspring 35, moves the driven element 23 of the clutch to force the pins24 into engagement with the holes provided for that purpose in thedriving element 25.

This engagement of the clutch causes transmission of power through theengaging gears and, upon turning of gear 29 approximately a fullrevolution, the cam 31 engages one end of the sleeve shaft 14 and movesit in an opposite lateral direction to a point where the pin 15 isengaged by the latch 13, which results in the releasing of the clutch,the pin 17 moving the cam arm 18 into normal position (full lineposition of Fig. 4) where the projection 36 is placed in the path' ofthe finger 3'7 (see Fig. 5). A cam 38, mounted on the drive shaft 26, iscontinuous- 1y rotating, thereby providing practically instant contactand operation of the finger 3'7; for that purpose there is provided acam roller 39 attached to the finger 3'7, which contacts the face of thecam 38. Upon the next following revolution of the cam 38 after the camarm 18 is placed in the path of the finger 37, the finger 3'7 engagesshoulder or projection 36 of arm 18, and moves the arm longitudinally;this movement actuates bell crank 19, which in turn disengages member 23from member 25 and allows the detent 32 to engage bell crank 19, holdingthe clutch disengaged until the next printing operation is performed.

The progressive release lock includes a ratchet wheel 40, adapted to beengaged by ratchet 41 actuated through lever 42, which, throughconnecting members, is actuated by a butterfly 43 situated beneath thekey bars 44 of the parcel post machine, and which, when actuated,rotates the ratchet wheel 40 one notch for each key depressed in thekeyboard. The ratchet wheel 40 has on one face two pins 45' and 46 whichrotate as the ratchet wheel 40 rotates, and are adapted to engage andmove a lock arm 48, to one end of which is secured a lock 49 whichengages a bellcrank lever 50 and which bell-crank slidably engages asecond latch 51 similar to latch 13, also adapted to engage the pin 15on the sliding sleeve shaft 14. Upon the performance of the propernumber of actuations'of keys of the keyboard, one of the pins 45 or 46of the ratchet wheel 40 contacts the lock bar 48 and moves it laterallyto a point where, through lever 50, the latch 51 is moved out ofengagement with the pin 15 on the sleeve shaft 14, thus unlocking theclutch mechanism and rendering it operable by the conirol key 11 on thekeyboard.

As thus described my invention includes control means comprising acontrol member 14 and an actuating member 18, an operating or shiftingmember (lever 19), locking means for the control member (engaging pin15), clutch-disengaging means (comprising cam 31 on gear 29 and cam 38on shaft 26), and means for releasing the control means, comprisingmanually-controlled means (by control key 11) and/or a progressiverelease lock mechanism.

For the purpose of returning the various operative parts of the parcelpost machine to their original positions following a printing operation,there is provided an error rock shaft 52, actuated by mechanical means(not shown) at the completion of a printing operation; and shaft 52 isalso operable manually by means of error key 53 on the keyboard, tocause one of the key bars 44 to be depressed into contact with therocking arm 54 to rock this arm, and through its connections 55, tothereby operate theerror rock shaft 52 (Fig. 3). The rock shaft 52 haspivotally connected to it a rack member 56 (Fig. 1) which contacts apinion 5'7 connected to a moving element 58 provided with a pair ofpawls 59 (Fig. 3) operating against internal teeth 60 in a rotatingelement 61 connected to the ratchet wheel 40. When the error key isoperated, regardless of the position of the ratchet wheel 40 and thepins 45 and 46, the pawls 59 will rotate within the member 61 and pickup the teeth 60, thereby rotating the member 61 to an original positionwherein both the pins 45 and 46 will be disengaged from the lock bar 48allowing it to return to normal locked position.

While the form of mechanism here shown and described, is admirablyadapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understoodthat it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form ofembodiment herein disclosed,

for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming withinthe scope of the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character disclosed, driving and driven members; alatch; a springtfinsioned operating member normally retained ininoperative position by said latch; a control member adapted to operatesaid latch and said operating-member; a slidable member controlling themovement of said control member; a trip member normally retaining saidslidable member in clutch disengaging position; and means to operatesaid trip to release said slidable member to engage said clutch byreleasing said latch from said operating member.

2. In a device of the character disclosed, driv ing and driven members;a latch; a springtensioned operating member normally retained ininoperative position by said latch; a control member adapted to operatesaid latch and said operating member; a slidable member controlling themovement of said control member; a trip member normally retaining saidslidable member in clutch disengaging position; means to operate saidtrip to release said slidable member to engage said clutch by releasingsaid latch from said operating member; and means to return said slidablemember to be engaged by said trip in clutch disengaging position. i

3. In a device of the character described, driving and driven clutchmembers, meansior moving one of said clutch.members into and out ofengagement with the other comprising an actuating member associated withone of said clutch members, a spring-pressed member engaging saidactuating member, means for normally holding said spring-pressed memberin open-clutch position and means for releasing said holding means topermit said spring-pressed member to move said actuating member and theassociated clutch member to closed-clutch position, and means operatedby the driving means for resetting said control means and subsequentlydisengaging the clutch at a predetermined point in the operation of thedriving means.

4. In a device of the character described, driving and driven clutchmembers, means for moving one of said clutch members into and out ofengagement with the other, comprising an operating member associatedwith one of said clutch members, an actuating memberengaging saidoperating member, a spring-pressed control membernormally held in openclutch position, but movable when released to efiect the movement ofsaid actuating member and its associated operating member to closedclutch position, and locking means normally preventing the opera-' tionof the clutch-closing mechanism, said looking means being engaged andreleased by said actuating member.

5. In a device of the character described, driving and driven clutchmembers, means for moving one of said clutch members into and out ofengagement with the other, comprising an operating member associatedwith one of said clutch members, an actuating member engaging saidoperating member, a spring-pressed control member normally held in openclutch position, but movable when released to efiect the movement ofsaid actuating member and its associated operating member to closedclutch position, looking means normally preventing the operation of theclutch-closing mechanism, and comprising a locking element releasable bymovement of the actuating member, and means for resetting said lockingmeans to original locking position at a predetermined point in theoperation of the driving means.

6. In a device of the character described, driving and driven powerelements, coacting drive i and driven clutch members, actuating meansfor .and driven clutch members, actuating means for moving' one of saidclutch members into and out of engagement with the other, locking meansnormally preventing movement of said movable clutch member, means forreleasing said looking means by movement of said actuating means,movable control means for engaging said actuating means and moving it toclosed clutch position, means for locking said control means, means forreleasing said locking means, and cam means on said power elementsforrestoring said control means, actuating means, and clutch member,after a predetermined interval, to original open clutch position.

8. In a device of the character described, driving and driven powerelements, driving and driven clutch members, operating means associatedwith one of said clutch members, latching means normally retaining saidoperating means in clutch-disengaged position, control means forreleasing said latching means operatively connected with said operatingmeans, clutch disengaging means, and means operated by said drivingelement for restoring said control means to position to be engaged bysaid clutch-disengaging means to effect the movement of said controlmeans, operating means and associated clutch member to clutch-disengagedposition.

9. In a device of the character described, driving and driven clutchmembers; an operating member associated with one of said clutch members,a latch normally retaining said operating member in clutch-disengagedposition, an actuating member for releasing said latch and operativelyconnected with said operating member, a control member engaging saidactuating member to move said actuating member and said operating memberto clutch engaging position, clutch disengaging means and means forreturning said control member to its original position and therebyreturning said actuating member to a position to be engaged by saidclutch disengaging means, to move said actuating member, operatingmember and associated clutch member to clutch-disengaged position.

10. In a device of the character described, driving and driven clutchmembers, a spring-tensioned operating lever for shifting one of saidclutch members, an actuating member pivoted to said operating lever, aspring-actuated slidable control member operatively engaging saidactuating member to move said actuating member to closed clutch positionand permit the operation of said operating lever, clutch disengagingmeans, and cam means for moving said control member to its open clutchposition and thereby pivotally setting said actuating member to aposition for engagement by said clutch disengaging means, and forlongitudinal movement by said last-mentioned means to restore saidoperating lever to original open clutch position.

11. In a device of the character described, driving and driven clutchmembers, an operating 1ever for shifting one of said clutch members, alatch normally retaining said operating lever in open clutch position,an actuating member pivoted to said operating lever and adapted toengage said latch, a spring-pressed slidable control member operativelyconnected to said actuating member to move said actuating member forengaging and releasing said latch and efiecting the movement of saidoperating lever to closed clutch position, and means for restoring saidcontrol member and associated elements to open clutch position.

12. In a device of the character described, driving and driven powerelements, driving and driven clutch members, an operating member forshifting one of said clutch members, a latch normally restraining saidoperating member, an actuating member operatively connected with saidoperating member and adapted to release said latch, a spring-actuatedcontrol member operatively connected with said actuating member, meansnormally locking said control member in open clutch position, manuallycontrolled means for.releasing said locking means, whereby said controlmember moves said actuating member to effect the release of said latchand the movement of said operating member to closed clutch position,

and cam means on the driving element moving said control member tooriginal locked condition in open clutch position. a

13. In a device of the character described, driving and driven clutchmembers, a spring-tensioned shifting lever associated with one of saidclutch members, a spring-pressed control means, pivotally connected withsaid shifting lever, said control means being movable in one directionto effect clutch closing movement of said shifting lever, and in theopposite direction moving into the path of clutch disengaging means, cammeans for moving said control means in the latter di rection, againstthe action of its spring, and clutch disengaging means for restoringsaid control means and shifting lever to normal open clutch position.

14. In a device of the character described, driving and driven clutchmembers, a spring-tensioned shifting lever associated with one of saidclutch members, latch means normally preventing the movement of saidshifting lever, a springpressed control means pivotally connected withsaid shifting lever, said control means being movable in one directionto release said latch means and permit clutch closing movement of saidshifting lever and in the opposite direction moving into the path ofclutch disengaging means, cam means for moving said control means in thelatter direction, against the action of its spring,

and clutch disengaging means for restoring said control means, shiftinglever, and latch means to normal open clutch position.

15. In a device of the character described, driving and driven clutchmembers, a springtensloned shifting lever associated with one of saidclutch members, latch means normally'preventing the movement of saidshifting lever, a spring-pressed control means pivotally connected withsaid shifting lever, means for normally locking said control means,manually controlled means for releasing said locking means, said controlmeans being movable in one direction to release said latch means andpermit clutch closing movement of said shifting lever and in theopposite direction moving into the path of clutch disengaging means, cammeans for moving said control means in the latter direction, against theaction of its spring, and clutch disengaging means for restoring saidcontrol means, shifting lever, and latch means to normal open clutchposition.

16. In a device of the character described, driving and driven elements.driving and driven clutch members, means for moving one of said clutchmembers into and out of engagement with the other comprising anactuating member associated with one of said clutch members, a springtensionedmember engaging said actuating member, means for normallyholding said springtensioned member in open-clutch position, means forreleasing said holding means to permit said spring-tensioned member tomove said actuating member and the associated clutch member toclosed-clutch position, clutch-disengaging means, and means operated bysaid driving element for returning said spring-tensioned member to itsoriginal position and thereby setting said actuating member intoposition to be engaged by said clutch-disengaging means to move saidactuating member and its associated clutch member to open clutchposition.

17. In a device of the character described,-

driving and driven elements, driving and driven clutch members, meansfor moving one of said clutch members into and out of engagement withthe other comprising an actuating member pivotally connected to one ofsaid clutch members, a spring-tensioned slidable member having a loosepivotal connection with said actuating member, means for normallyholding said springtensioned member in open-clutch position, means forreleasing said holding means to permit said spring-tensioned member tomove said actuating member and its connected clutch member toclosed-clutch position, means operated by said driving element forrestoring said spring-tensioned member to original position and settingsaid actuating member, and means operated by said driving element forengaging said actuating member while so set and restoring said actuatingmember and its connected clutch member to open-clutch position.

HENRY NEPPLE.

